Just there
by ForTheLoveofTigerLilies
Summary: AU. Six years ago, Sora moved to the US, leaving her friends behind specifically her Best friend Matt. Now she's back fl, only to find out Mimi and Matt are dating. Will she get between them, or will things just work themselves out? Eventual Sorato
1. Promises

**Author's Note: **Hello there. I'm 'For The Love of Tiger Lilies', but you can call me Lelaine. I haven't written in such a long time and I just recently decided to take up into fan fiction again. I have one story up, and this shall be my second. This will be my first attempt at a Digimon fan fiction, and I hope it will be to your liking.

This is an "AU" and the rating for the time being will be at T. It may change into M if I ever decide it needs to be changed.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Digimon. If I did, well... I don't know. My imagination isn't quite up to par right now to think of a witty plan for what I would do. (:

**Chapter One: Promises.  


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A knock at the door stirred the twelve year old redhead from her sleep. She groaned, the sun hitting her half lidded eyes. She groaned louder when the knock at the door came again. "Sora, Matt and Tai are here. They said something about playing soccer?"

Sora Takenouchi sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes from sleep. It took her a moment to register what her mother had said to her through the door. Once it sunk it, Sora's deep ruby eyes widened. "Oh crap!" Quickly, a voice through the door scolded her. "Language Sora!" Sora's mother absolutely hated when her daughter swore. It certainly wasn't lady like. With a sigh, the only adult in the house put her hand to her forehead and started to walk down the hall, not before she called out to Sora. "I'll tell them to wait in the living room."

The redhead hurriedly got herself dressed, pulling on a yellow tank top and tugging on some jeans after stripping herself from her pajamas. With pants too long she opened her bedroom door and hopped across the hall into the bathroom. The noise made the heads of two boys in the living room raise a brow in the direction. The both shrugged and looked back to the television, watching Saturday morning cartoons. "I still can't believe Ash is only ten. After three years." They both agreed to this statement.

In the bathroom, Sora applied the white tooth paste onto her toothbrush, put it under the water for a split second then put the brush into her mouth. Struggling with one hand brushing her teeth, her other hand worked the hair brush to flatten the unruly locks of orange-red. With a frustrated grunt, Sora placed the hair brush by the bathroom sink and spit out the toothpaste. She rinsed her mouth and toothbrush and placed it back on its stand. Deathly staring at her reflection in the mirror she shook her head and reached her hands up to mess up her hair.

The twelve year old girl stomped back over to her room and grabbed her hat, tugging it on her head. She slipped on some socks and met the two boys around her age in her living room. Their eyes were glued intently on to the screen that he didn't notice the girl's presence. That didn't bother her, not one bit. In fact, she joined them on the couch to watch one of their favorites 'Pokémon'. Sora raised a brow, trying to decipher which episode it was with only watching three minutes of it. "Is this the one where Ash says goodbye to Butterfree?" The brunette boy beside her nodded. "Yeah." His matching chocolate brown eyes never once strayed from the television screen.

That was Tai Kamiya. His gravity defying hair defined him, other than his trademark goggles he wore. Know one knew exactly why he wore them, he never went swimming with them on anyway. He said they made him look cool. Tai was in Sora's grade and class, he was one of the loud ones and had a lot of spirit to him. Many looked up to him as the leader type.

"We should get going," the second and last of the two boys on the couch commented. The boy's name was Matt Ishida. Well, actually he was Yamato, but don't ever call him that. He'd have your head on the playground any day. He was a blond boy who seemed to put jell in his hands and run his fingers in his hair in every which way. Sapphire eyes were eyes that were supposed to tell all the soul's secrets, but he was the exception. He usually kept to himself, no one wondered why. They merely accepted it.

Sora snapped out of the cartoon show's trance and nodded, standing up to block Tai's view of the TV and turning it off. "Yeah, plus. Didn't you say the others were going to meet up with us, too?" Quickly jumping off the couch and onto his feet, Tai grabbed the soccer ball and jolted out the door. "Mom's going to kill me! I told Kari I'd be there fifteen minutes ago!" Matt's sapphire eyes widened and he soon followed Tai out the door. "Oh man, TK!" Sora laughed and walked out the door, calling to her mom wherever she was in the house. "Mama, I'll be back before dinner!" With that, Sora exited the apartment, closing the door behind her.

Hearing her daughter's footsteps quicken and become heavy as Sora fought to keep up with the boys, the woman let out a sigh. "One of the boys."

They finally reached the park where they met up with four other children. One had blue hair and thick lenses for glasses. On his side was a bag with a red cross with it. Leave it to Joe to bring a first aid kit to a friendly game of soccer. He sat on the bench with two other kids. The girl beside him wore a pink cowboy hat, pink dress, and pink socks of all things. If you could sum the girl up in one word, it would be pink. But that was only at first glance. If you knew her like the group of children did, the word would be "Mimi". Mimi was truly the girliest of girls. She didn't like mud, grass, or anything that would get her dress or dirty blonde, almost brown hair dirty. She hated spiders and anything that could crawl.. "Izzy, they're finally here!" Izzy was the boy sitting next to her typing furiously away on his laptop. After a few more key strokes, his eyes looped up from the screen of his laptop with a grin. "Prodigious! Now we can start the game." Izzy was a short boy with red hair. Not as light as Sora's, but red none the less. He was known as the smartest of the group, though a year younger than most. Wise beyond his years, others would say.

"I'll sit this one out." Joe pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose as he watched Tai, Sora, and Matt join the rest of the group of children. From the playground just a couple of ways away, two younger kids met up with their brothers. A short little girl with green hair and a whistle around her neck went straight to Tai, tugging his hand. "Where were you?" Beside her was her best friend TK. "Yeah, Kari's been worried sick!" On his head he wore a green and blue hat, on his shoulders a green backpack. This blond hair made it apparent he was Matt's younger brother.

Matt smirked down at the younger boy. "Oh. So you weren't worried at all?" TK shook his head no to which Kari rolled her eyes. Tai laughed and patted his sister on the head. "Don't worry about it, kid. I'm here now. So who's ready to play some soccer?" Tai looked back at Joe, Mimi, and Izzy. Sora went over to the girl dressed in Pink and reached for her hands, begging. "Come on, Mimi. We need it to be fair! Two girls, two boys!" Mimi, usually stubborn sighed and gave in. "Alright."

Teams were picked and it was Tai and Mimi versus Matt and Sora. Izzy was on his laptop, trying to find out the physics formula and solve it in order to help Tai, Matt, and Sora improve their skills for next weekend's game. Joe stood there, calling out encouraging things to the girls while TK and Kari shouted and rooted for their respected brothers.

By the end of the game, Sora and the two other boys were covered in mud and grass stains while Mimi stood clean as ever. Matt and Sora won and were celebrating while Tai was scolding Mimi for being such a girl and not getting a pass to avoid getting her shoes muddy. Matt and Sora had their arms around each others shoulders as they laughed, recalling embarrassing moments during the game. Sora wiped the dirt off her face only to put more mud on her cheeks. Matt laughed and Sora raised a brow not understanding what was so funny.

Soon, parents had come to the playground and field, calling out their children's names. "Izzy! It's time for dinner!" The red head closed his laptop and placed it into his laptop bag strapped onto his back. "Well guys. I'll see you soon. I've figured out the physic's formula, and let me say. With this, you guys will be absolutely prodigious!" With his goodbye said, he turned to leave.

"Mimi!" Another voice echoed. "Mimi!" The girl with the pink cowboy hat waved her hand goodbye, sad to leave but happy to be away from Tai's scolding "Bye you guys!" She then turned to Joe with a smile. "You need a ride? We live in the same apartment after all." Joe nodded and waved his goodbye to the rest of them, holding onto the strap of the first aid kit bag. "Bye guys. I'll see you next weekend." Joe went to a different school than the rest of them. The two walked up the steps and disappeared into Mimi's parent's car.

In a matter of minutes, Tai and Kari's mom bellowed out in an angry voice. "Taichi! Look at your clothes. I have to wash them again?" Kari laughed and pointed at her older brother. "Mom's mad at you!" Tai rolled his eyes and waved to his three other friends before him and Kari we're off. "Kari, shut your trap! We both get the punishment with Mom's cooking."

Sora, Matt, and TK were left laughing in the middle of the field. Their laughter was stopped by a young woman who happened to be Matt and TK's mom. "Takeru, it's time to go home now." She called out from the top of the steps. She smiled noticing her other son. "Oh, Yamato, you're welcomed to join us for dinner! I'll drop you off at your dad's after supper." Matt and TK's mom was the only woman ever allowed, well more like person, to call them by their full first names. Matt and TK's parents were divorced. Matt lived with his Dad, TK with his mother. TK hugged Sora goodbye and ran up the stairs to meet with his mom. Matt looked back at Sora and smiled. "So, we're counting on the only girl on our team to help us out next weekend. You'll be there, right?" Sora smiled back at the blond and held her fist out. "You know it!" With a fist bump, Matt followed TK up the stairs and Sora was left alone in the field for only a few seconds before she went back to her own apartment to have dinner with her mother.

The week had gone by fast and it was now the day of the big game. Sora stayed in bed, staring up at the white ceiling. She turned on her left side to look at all her belongings packed in brown boxes that said, "Sora's room" across the sides. Tears dared to fall; however, Sora had no more energy to cry. She had spent the whole week crying as she packed up everything in the small apartment building, taking the week off from school. The first few days from head aches due to the crying, the last couple of days in the week to help her mother pack. Who knew they had so much stuff.

"Sora, honey, the van's here. We have to put the boxes in the van now. Can you help?" Sora silently got out of bed, got dressed, and helped her mother with the boxes. Once they were all in the van, they got in it and drove to the school's soccer field where Sora's mother allowed her to say her final goodbyes to all her friends. Walking to the middle of the field where the rest of her friends were, they all looked at her with grim faces. It was obvious they had lost, and if Tai wasn't captain obvious.

"Sora, where've you been the whole week? You don't look well. Are you still sick? We needed you. We got pummeled. I didn't have my left wingman!" Matt frowned as well, noticing something was wrong with Sora and it wasn't that she had the flu or a cold. Mimi noticed this too and went to Sora's side. "Awh, hon. What's wrong?" Sora looked down at her shoes, her hand rubbing an arm to muster up the courage to tell him the news. Izzy, looking concerned, was the first to speak. "You can tell us." Kari nodded and walked to Sora's side as well, grasping on to her head. "Yeah, we're all friends after all!"

Sora forced her head up to look at them all, the tears finally falling. "I'm... Moving." In unison, the seven other friends proclaimed in shock, "What?" Sora only nodded. "You can't go, Sora!" TK stood in front of her, looking up at her ruby eyes with his own sapphire that mimicked Matt's. "We're all supposed to be friends forever, remember?" Sora nodded, a sad smile plastered on her lips. "Yeah.." Her voice was weak and it was obvious that she no longer believed that. Tai shook his head, noticing the tone in her voice. "And we'll always be friends forever. No matter how many miles separate us!" Sora's smile turned real. Joe became curious. "And.. how many miles would that be, Sora?" Sora looked down again, biting her lower lip. "California..." Mimi gasped. "But Sora, that's so far!" Sora put up the sad smile again. "But like Joe said, we'll all still be friends. Trust me guys, we'll keep in contact. I swear." They all came forward and gave her a hug.

After a few minutes of tears from just about everyone but Matt, the gang broke apart from the hug. Sora looked over at Matt. He had been her best friend. First friend, in fact. They made silly promises to each other. If they were still single by the time they were twenty four, they'd become girlfriend and boyfriend since no one else knew each other the way they did. If Sora couldn't sleep, Sora promised the worried Matt that she would call to talk about whatever was on her mind. Matt promised her he'd stay up. Other promises were very petty ones like if Sora ever got a Sundae, she'd give the cherry to him. If Matt ever got a Soda can, he'd save the little top thing for her to tug off.

Sora walked over to Matt who was looking straight at her, pretending his hardest to make it seem that it didn't phase him that she was going to be thousands of miles away. After all, everything would be the same, right? She took the hat her head and straightened out her orange-red locks of hair. She handed the hat the the blond, smiling. "Promise you'll keep it safe?" Matt slowly took it from the other's hands and nodded. "Promise."

Just then, a honk from the moving van signaled her to hurry up with her goodbyes. Sora took a few steps back and the tears welled up in her eyes again. She waved goodbye with a smile on her face, hoping that this wouldn't be the last she'd see them.

As the seven children waved goodbye to the disappearing into the sunset. Mimi, Joe, Izzy, Kari, TK, Tai, and Matt all stood there. The stood in the middle of the field, no one less member short to their group of friends. They had said goodbye.

The van was out of sight, and all seven of there were now just there.

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**Author's End Note: **And there's chapter one. I have chapter two all set in mind and I may or not may upload it a week from now. Depends on how many reviews I get. I'd love to get ten, but if not, anything between five and ten would suffice. I apologize for my errors in this fic. Please review and tell me what you think!

Next chapter will be when Sora comes back to Odaiba. Wonder how the old crew will react.


	2. Things Have Changed

**Author's Note: **Thanks for the reviews. Sorry I didn't get this up sooner, I've been busy and I watched the new Harry Potter! It was amazing, highly recommended, and this is coming from the book lover, too! Oh, since it took awhile, I made it longer than I intended it to be.

By the way, this is an alternate universe. So please, disregard certain things you knew and learned from the anime series. Thank you!

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize something, I don't own it.

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**Chapter Two: Things have changed. **

"Do you have everything, honey? Your backpack, your lunch?" A familiar woman called out to her daughter. It was as if she were her little baby, getting ready to go into kindergarten or something, when in fact it was her daughter's first day as a senior in high school. Not only was it her first day in high school, but her first day back attending school in Japan.

"I've got everything, Mama. The principal told me to meet him twenty minutes before the bell rang." The young woman of seventeen stuffed a piece of toast into her mouth, grabbed her school briefcase, slipped on her shoes at the door, and darted out.

'Something's never change,' she thought to herself. Sora Takenouchi seemed to always be late. No matter how early she would wake up, she'd somehow manage to leave home at the same time she always did. This was probably because whenever she did wake up early, she stayed in bed for about twenty minutes.

Sora ran down the street, making her way to the high school five blocks away from her mother's apartment. She passed by familiar places: the grocery, ice cream store, the park across the street, the old field, and her elementary school. The red head skidded to a stop, almost missing the new school she would soon attend. She made a quick turn, almost running into a couple of kids, "Sorry!" Sora called out an apology, interrupting a boy's pass of a soccer ball to another.

"Watch it!" Taichi Kamiya grunted in the fleeing girls' direction, managing to catch the ball that Davis, the other boy, and tried passing to him. The brown haired boy kicked the black and white patterned ball back over to Davis. Davis was shorter, had a deeper brown shade of hair which was a rather unruly mess to look at. He had goggles around his head, a pair that was strikingly similar to the ones that Tai used to wear as a child. Both the boys wore the school's uniform: A white collared dress shirt, gray slacks, and a navy blue blazer. On the breast of the blazer was a large patch of a crest, one that corresponded to each person's class. Tai's crest was Gold and Red, with a Phoenix depicted on the shield. Davis's was Green and Gold, a turtle taking place of the Phoenix.

Tai rolled his eyes and caught Davis' pass, crouching down to pick the soccer ball up and tuck it beneath his arm. "New kids. Probably some rich snob." Davis raised a brow and looked back over to the girl who was now asking other students for directions. "Well, she's a cute red headed brat, at least."

"Red head?" Tai knew of only one red headed female in all of Japan. Then again, she was no longer in Japan. He turned his head to catch a glimpse of this red hair, but by the time his head had whipped around, she was gone. "Davis, text the others." Davis kept his brow raised, but this time he looked back over at Tai. "Why? Something up?" Tai shook his head. "I think an old friend just came back. Tell 'em to meet us in the computer lab." Davis nodded his head and fished his cellphone from his pocket, sending a group text. "Wait, what happened to your phone?" Tai looked towards the school, grinning sheepishly. "Well you see. I was up all night trying to beat Unblock Me and I forgot to charge my phone.. so it's dead!" With a laugh, Tai walked towards the school's main entrance, Davis behind him.

In a matter of ten minutes, those who were texted gathered in the computer lab. Ten children, or young adults, sat in chairs that were set up in a circle. Well, except one girl who shared a chair with one of the boys. Kari was the first to speak. "So, big bro, why are we here?" Over the years, Kari's hair had grown, however she still seemed to cut it in the exact same way she had it years ago: a very short a-line. The only thing different was that her fringe had grown out and was pinned to the left side with two green bobby pins, crossed to form an x. The crest on her blazer was similar to Davis' and a few others in the room.

"There's a new red head in school.." Tai's voice trailed off and he was soon interrupted by a boy sitting next to his younger sister who wore the same crest as she did, evidently in the same year. "You hear that, Izzy? Guess you're not the only ginger!" TK laughed and punched the red headed boy playfully on the arm. Izzy rolled his eyes. The one of two of the only juniors in the room, his crest was blue and gold with a dragon on the crest. "She probably doesn't have a soul either!" A boy named Ken laughed along with TK who in return gave him a fist to pound. His hairstyle resembled Kari's, though its color was a dark midnight blue, almost jet black. His crest was gold and black with a tiger on it. Just then, a smaller boy with chocolate brown hair cleared his throat. "Guys, that was a little rude." He, too was a freshman. "I agree with Cody. You guys are always on youtube." Yolei was a girl with violet colored hair, the same class as Cody, Davis, TK, and Kari. She deviated a bit from the uniform, a green bandana tied about her head.

Izzy cleared his throat and looked back over to Tai. "Anyway, moving along. This new 'red-head' as you put it. What's so important about them?" Mimi gasped and beamed, sitting in a boy's lap. "Ohh, how many red heads do we know! Do you think it's her?" Mimi had certainly grown. She surely filled out in all the right places. And she had died her hair a strawberry blonde. Just another thing to love that was pink. She belonged to the Junior class with a crest similar to Izzy's on her blazer.

Kari gasped right after she mentioned it. The young girl of fourteen had been one of the few that still kept in Sora while in the US. She was wondering she hadn't signed onto AIM messenger in over a week. But now she wondered why Sora hadn't told her she was coming back.

Cody, Yolei, Ken, and Davis all looked extremely confused, looking for answers from the other six. "Who's her?" Davis was the one to ask the question that all lingered in their minds.

"Sora Takenouchi." For the first time since they had all arrived in the computer Lab, the oldest blond spoke. His hair was now at medium length, reaching just at his shoulders. It was layered so that the back stayed to his shoulders, the front shorter and at his jaw. His fringe was to the left side. He sat leaned back in his chair, the strawberry blonde in his lap. Matt's hand slipped away from Mimi's the moment he had uttered her name.

There she sat in front of the principal's desk in her office. He was going over the simple rules and regulations of the school. They were typical. Caught with a hickey, pay five dollars. Caught with your cellphone, get it confiscated and pay ten dollars. Skirts are not to be shorter than two inches above the knee. At this, she tugged her skirt down, not that it was shorter than that, but it made her feel as if he would be checking every skirt in the school. No hats were to be worn in school, skirts were to be above the ankle either white, navy blue, or black in color. There were other things, rules that didn't spike an interest or just weren't all that important. Soon, Sora was handed her schedule. She held the white piece of paper in her hand, looking over the classes. First Period was Calculus AB. Second Period would be Physics followed by Poetry class and then Photography. Her fifth period was free and her sixth and seventh periods were Music Class and PE respectively. As her eyes scanned the bottom of the schedule, the Principal, who she noted as Ms. Mutou, gave an odd smile. For a principal of such a large school, she was young, no older than thirty two with long blonde hair tied in a loose bun behind her head with large circular framed glasses on the bridge of her nose which her hazel eyes peeked through. Her red lips moved quickly as she spoke. "Better hurry, or you'll be late to class."

Before she could say anything, the bell sounded its alarm, signaling there would be five minutes to get to her first class. She grabbed her briefcase on the floor rested on the chair's foot, and scurried out the door. Halfway down the hallway from the office she had just exited out of, she realized she had no idea where her first class was.

For the second time that day, she skidded to a stop and spotted a violet haired girl and a dark blue haired boy walking in the opposite direction. She stopped their conversation, apologizing frantically. "So so so, sorry! But, do you know where Mr. Sever's Calculus AB class is located?" The two looked at each other and pointed upstairs. "Second floor, half way down the hall, room 214." Sora bowed a thank you and ran off to the staircase, screaming another apology as she sprinted. Yolei and Ken looked at each other, raising a brow. Ken was the one to break the silence. "Is that the girl?"

Sora was met outside the door by a teacher who she guessed was Mr. Sever. He was a slightly plump man, though tall, with bushy gray brows and a thick gray handlebar mustache. "Ah, Ms. Takenouchi. Good to see you, today!" He seemed like a very jolly man, call him Santa Clause, even. "I'll introduce you to the class in a moment. Stay outside till I call you in?" Sora nodded, not questioning the odd request. Back in California, the new kid was the new kid, nothing special. They sat in class and pretended like they were always apart of the class.

Mr. Sever walked into the class room, his hands tugging forward on his suspenders. "Alright, guys. Listen up." All the students seemed to be catching up with one another upon what they had done durng the summer. With a roll of Mr. Sever's green eyes, he bellowed out, "YO! Hey, dudes. Listen, We'll share we did over the summer in a bit with everyone, but right now, I got someone to introduce." Just then, the whole class became silent. "Thank you." Sever flashed a goofy smile and looked towards the door. "We have a new student joining us," he paused to look down at a piece of paper from his desk, squinting his old weary eyes to read it. "Says she's from America. Colorado. No wait.. Carolina?" He held the paper closer to his eyes as Sora stepped in, giggling at the old man's poor eye sight. "Oh, California!"

Two pairs of eyes looked up from whatever they were doing and were focused on the ginger headed girl in the front of the class. "This is Sora. I trust you all to give her your respect and welcome her kindly to Japan." Tai smirked and decided to correct the man. "Back to Japan." Sora blinked, her auburn eyes searching for voice that knew she had lived here before, hopeful as to who it might be. Seeing the gravity defying hair, her teeth showed as she gave her brightest smile.

"Well, seeing as you two know each other, Sora you can sit between Tai and that red headed boy over there, Izzy." Sever looked towards the rest of the class. "Listen guys, I really don't have anything planned for today," as he said this, Sora made her way to her seat to sit between her old friends, "And so you guys can just share your summers." With that said, the old man in his sixties sat down in his chair, trying to figure out the newest version and modification to the rubix cube, it was now a pyramid.

Tai and Izzy's heads quickly snapped to the girl sitting between them. "SORA!" Tai's face was beaming with Joy and Izzy couldn't help but give such a cheesy smile. "I knew it was you!" Tai gave his long time best friend a noogie. Sora looked completely lost. Izzy noted this and chuckled. "Well you see, Sora, Tai had almost been run over this morning by a red headed young woman and since we only knew of one, we all assumed that it was you." Tai nodded like a little five year old boy, releasing the girl's head. "Yup! And we were right!"

"Awwh, you guys!" Sora couldn't help but smile at the two boys, getting their heads locked in her arms and bringing them together in a group hug. Letting the two boys go, Sora smiled and looked over at the fellow red head. "Izzy! Why am I not surprised to see you in a senior level class?" The boy spoken to gave a humble smile. "Well, I'm actually taking Calculus AB and BC." Sora laughed and widened her eyes in shock. "Now that I wasn't expected." Izzy feigned an expression of hurt. "Wow. That pains me, Sora. But anyway, you're back in Japan! Why, if I may ask?"

Sora tucked her red behind her ear and looked both the boys, leaning back in her chair. "Mama and I missed Japan. Originally, I was going to come back just for College, but I begged her to come back for my last year of high school." It was her turn to fake sadness and hurt. "Am I not welcome back home?" Tai's eyes almost burst of its sockets. "No way, Sora! You're always welcome back! But well..." His voice trailed off and he had to gather the courage to tell her. "You see, it's been such a long time that we thought you wouldn't be coming back." Sora gave a sad smile to them both. "I'm sorry. But you guys wanna' know something? In all honesty, I didn't think I was coming back either." Izzy took the opportunity to look on the brighter side of things. "Well hey, look! Now we're all back together! Well, except Joe. We only get to see him during the holidays and weekends. That boy, always studying and striving to become a doctor."

Sora smiled, really glad to be back home, but right now, she wanted to know what Tai and Izzy's summers had been like. "So... What did you guys do over vacation?" Tai smiled and leaned back in his chair, acting like a very 'humble' young man. "Well, I actually got to lead Odaiba's soccer team to the winning game of Japan's league. And can you guess who won?" Sora clapped her hands, congratulating the brunette. "Oh, wow! No way, Tai! That's awesome! And you Izzy?" Izzy smiled and pulled out his laptop, setting it on his desk. "Well, Sora. This summer I had the opportunity to take part in a prodigious Computer Camp where I learned more about computers than I ever thought possible! Who knew there was more to learn!" Sora gave a chuckle and peered onto his laptop's screen. "Check this out!" Izzy pulled up a program. "I'm working on the next installment of the Call of Duty games!" Sora's eyes were glued intently onto the screen. She herself had been a huge fan of the Call of Duty Games back in the states.

Soon, the bell rang and everyone gathered their things. Sora took her schedule out from her blazer's pocket, then showed it to Izzy. "Hey, do you know where this room is? It's my homeroom." Izzy's eyes glanced at the paper, then pointed to Tai. "Oh, that's Tai's homeroom, too!" The boy then proceeded to pack up is laptop into his briefcase as Sora followed Tai out the door.

Tai swung an arm around Sora's shoulder. Over the years, Sora had grown, but it was nothing in comparison to Tai's height. She knew Mrs. Kamiya's cooking was horrible, but who knew that it possessed ungodly like growth hormone catalysts! "So, let me see your schedule, squirt." To Tai, Sora was his always shorter friend that he would protect until the day he died. Even after if it were possible. He grabbed the white folded paper from her small hands and looked through the classes. "Oh, I see."

Tai led Sora into their homeroom class, and they both took seats by the back of the class. Their homeroom teacher, Sora soon found out, was almost deaf, and the students were basically allowed to get away with almost everything as long as they were under the old woman's supervision. Tai then set her classes on the desk in front of them, pointing to the respected classes as he went along. "Okay, so I have next period with you. It's Physics. Ms. Mutou teaches it, yeah she looks young, but she's real smart. Then again, she's also real cool, so that class should be a breeze! After, you have lunch. Remember that, this school has a weird lunch schedule. Half the school has early lunch, the other late. You have early. Got it? K, good." Sora only nodded, she honestly had no clue about the lunch schedule, but she would figure it out. Somehow. "After Lunch, go to the east side of the campus into the room 153. Professor Mizuki can be a bitch, but she's got that weird sense of humor that I'm sure you'll come to love. She may seem like an easy teacher, but she's hard ass grader. Your last class of the day is Photography. I think Kari's taking that this year." Sora interrupted him, biting her lower lip. "But isn't she just a freshman?" Tai nodded, then explained. "Yeah, but Photography, like Poetry and Music are more of elective classes. So they're open to students of all grades. She probably has Poetry too, so she'll take you from 'Fessor 'Zuki's to the Photo lab."

Sora nodded, understanding up until that point, where she then remembered the rest of the paper. "And.. my other classes?" Tai smiled and traced a circle with his finger around her last three classes. "These are tomorrow's classes. We have Day A, and Day B, these are your B classes. They switch off, so one day will be A, the next B, the next A, and so on and so forth." Sora nodded slowly, wrapping her mind around the odd schedule. "After your free period, come back here for homeroom. But since you have free, you don't technically have to be here until homeroom. Whether or not you want to sleep in, that's up to you. But after homeroom, you have Music. This is located in the North part of the campus. It's not hard to miss, the Music classes have their own separate building. It's a pretty easy course, you can basically do whatever you want to do, musically of course. I took it freshman year. Just sign in, do some music stuff, and you basically have an A already." Tai finally pointed to her last class. "PE. We meet on the fields across the street. It's technically still apart of the campus. Oh, and this class is integrated with Juniors and Seniors." Just as Tai finished explaining Sora's classes, the bell rang.

The brunette and red head both gathered their briefcases and headed up the stairs to the third floor. Across the restrooms, they entered a class room that was set up more like a lab. Instead of desks, there were lab tables, between each was a sink. Flat screen monitored computers were put in the center of each lab table and in the front of the room was a brown desk, a laptop, and a huge white board behind it.

Before Sora could even take a look at the faces in the room, arms went about her shoulders in one of the tightest hugs she had ever received in her life. "Oh, Sora! It is true, it is!" Strawberry blonde hair obstructed her vision of the person, but Sora already knew by the voice and enthusiasm in it. Mimi finally let go of the girl only to grasp her hand and pull her to one of the lab tables. They sat down and were joined with Tai who followed, and Izzy who was typing away at his laptop in the desk in front of him. "Tai said he thought he had seen you this morning, and apparently he was right. That's a first." Mimi let out a giggle. She sat in a stool next to Sora's and faced her, arms on the table with her eyes twinkling with curiosity. "How was America? Is it as great as everyone says? And the fashion, what of it?" Sora couldn't help but laugh at her friend's subtle way of asking about the clothes. "America is... America. It's huge, there's no doubt. People there aren't as nice as you'd like to think. The economy right now is pretty bad. But the clothes there... Well, let's say everyone has their own taste, and not all of them are what you would call cute."

Just then, all heads turned when none other than Yamato Ishida walked into the room. Girls batted their eyes and waved in his direction, guys either rolled their eyes or pointed with smiles and grins. Sora took note of this and raised her left brow, "Well, isn't he Mr. Popular?" Izzy couldn't help but chuckle. "Well you see Sora. Out of everyone, you could say that Matt has changed the most. Since freshman year, he's been in a band called the Teen Wolves." Sora blinked, fully aware of what Izzy was saying, though her eyes never left Matt's form. "Oh.. I see." Izzy nodded, un-phased by the fact his friend seemingly wasn't paying attention. He knew better. "He's the lead singer, and the guitarist. It also helps that his dad is head of the TV station. Not to mention he's the whole student body president." Sora nodded again.

Matt made his way towards the group slowly, stopping every once and awhile to talk and chat with a few friends and make small conversation with girls who seemed to throw himself at him. It wasn't a smirk or a wink when he would talk to those kinds of girls, instead, he actually tried having a conversation. However this predicament was like all the others, the girls he had spoken to only batted their eyes and bit on their lower lips.

Mimi laughed as Matt turned away from the other students in the classroom, now heading straight for Sora and the group. "Oh, and you can't forget. He's dating the captain of the cheer squad?" Sora broke away from watching the blonde teenager, "The captain? Who's that?" As she looked over towards her old girlfriend, Mimi latched herself onto Matt's arm, leaning up to place a peck on his cheek. Sora's expression fell, though a smile was still on her lips. Izzy noticed this, and sighed. "Yeah... Things have changed, Sora."

And so it was: the classroom filled with noisy students. Mimi at Matt's side. Tai and Izzy looking back and forth between the old friends in the class room as they sat on either side of Sora. It was obvious that Matt hadn't noticed her, he was too busy saying hello to his girlfriend.

And Sora?  
She sat on the stool behind a lab table, watching the public display of affection between her two long friends, just there.

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AN**: Again, I apologize that it took me longer than expected to put this up! I had planned on doing so two weeks ago. I'm so sorry!  
But please remember, this is a Sora and Matt fanfiction. I will not abandon that, I'd just rather have more of a plot than Sora comes back and gets with Matt, you know?

**Like always, Read & Review**!

**Edit: ** I love reviews, really I do, but I hate reviews like this one.

_"Since Sora left to Kali coo! I hope I get some Koumi would be better if Kou and Mimi move to Kali while SOra and Yama stays in Japan instead lol! All is good just hope it ends in Sorato/Koumi if not I just lost hope and I might not finish this ficc after all..." _

And

_"Chapter 2 is creepy! Bring on the Sorato/Koumi and end it that wayz cuz I hate Taiora/mimato yo... Peace Kuz Koumi/Sorato gonez" _

I'm sorry that _my _story isn't satisfying your needs. Sorato is **not** gone. Like I said, this is a Sora & Matt fanfic. It's a journey for them, so of course they're going to have some ups and downs along the way. If you're going to act the way you did, I'm glad you won't be reading any more. I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but a rude review draws a rude response.

**I don't know how many times I can stress this, this is a Sorato fanfiction. -_-; **


	3. Welcome Home, Sora

**Author's Note: **Quick update? I would think so! A new thing I'll be doing is responding to a couple of reviews at the beginning of each chapter that concern the story or any questions you may have. I'll do my best to respond to everyone's review.

**Evil-Chibi-Tiffy: **I'm sorry that you dislike the Mimato couple. They will eventually break up, but not extremely fast. I'd like the jealousy factor to play in a bit more, and I have a little plan for Matt. Hopefully, you can be patient.

**Missy: **I purposely left out Sora's description so she could be described in this chapter! I hope this is soon enough!

**xx: **Thanks! I'm going to try my best to keep them as close to the anime as I can. Their personalities may change, but it won't happen over night and it surely won't happen out of the blue.

By the way, if you're an anonymous reviewer and would like to be alerted as to when I update a new chapter, feel free to send me an e-mail or give me yours in a review and I'll send e-mails. That is, if fanfiction doesn't already do that for anonymous reviews. I haven't been on the site in a really long time. xD

Enough babbling, Laine! On with the damn story!

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize anything, chances are, I do not own it.

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**Chapter 3: Welcome Home, Sora**

Sora's smile never left her lips as she watched her two long time friends act rather affectionate to each other. Of course it was inevitable for their group to actually avoid a couple between two friends, but she never suspected it would be Mimi and Matt. Mimi and Joe, Mimi and Izzy, hell, even Tai and Matt, but never them two. Something was off, a pulling feeling in her heart seemed to arise and intensify the longer she stared at the blondes.

Finally, Matt looked towards the table a few steps away, noticing Sora. His sapphire eyes met ruby and for just the two of them, time seemed to stop. Matt new Sora inside and out, just as she knew him, and no amount of years would be able to change that. If anything was ever to remain the same, it would be their ability to sense when something was wrong with the other. With his arm still around his girlfriend's waist, Matt took the few steps to the table and nodded toward Sora. "Hey."

That simple word was enough for Sora's smile to widen and turn real. His voice had gotten deeper, but that was no surprise. It had been six years, and puberty had sure done him well. Sora smiled, nodding back. "Hi." Tai and Izzy looked between each other, both confused and feeling very awkward as they witnessed the awkward reunion between the two best friends. Just as Tai was about to speak, a loud booming feminine voice interrupted the rowdy class.

"Excuse me, everyone take their seats." Ms. Mutou stood at her desk, leaning forward with her hands on it. Tai raised his hand and left brow, testing her. "But the bell hasn't even ru-" His sentence was cut off by the bell's loud shrill. He put his hand down, whispering to his right in Sora and Izzy's direction. "How does she do that?" Ms. Mutou smirked and stood straight, crossing her arms one over the other in front of her chest. "Now, children. I'm sure you've heard how this class is. So I suggest you sit next to the friends, or rather students, that will help you through out the year. This is not an easy course." She paused to turn her back, looking over the notes that were already on the board. "In the past three years, I regret to say that I have flunked half of each physics class. You may switch seats now, if you'd like." With her permission, many students rushed out of their seats, getting up and rushing to Izzy's table. "Uhhh.." The red head laughed nervously. Mimi whined, "But Izzy, come on. You know I need help, Science has always been my weakest subject!" Izzy nodded, knowing full well from all the whining and complaining from Chemistry last year. "Alright. I'll sit with Mimi and Tai." Tai didn't even need to ask. Izzy knew if he had anything lower than a C+ in physics, he wouldn't be able to play soccer. Mimi and Tai raised their hands over Izzy's head, giving each other a high five before the three of them moved to the table to sit down on the three stools: Mimi on the left, Tai on the right, and Izzy between the two.

Sighs were heard all around the room as the rest of the students fought to find the other students that were smart, but not as nearly as smart as Izzy. Sora didn't know anyone and was left at the table as everyone else found their own seats. Matt stood at the table she sat and and gave a small smile as he walked around the lab table to take a seat on her left. "Guess you're stuck with me." Sora couldn't help but give a small giggle. "I guess I am. This is going to be a long year." They both laughed, sarcasm was dripping from the girl's sentence.

Ms. Mutou turned back around with a smile on her painted red lips, clasping her hands in front of her. "Alright class! Each period, there will be warm up problems on the board. You are to solve each one and we will go over them once everyone is done." Everyone groaned and pulled out their materials from their briefcases. Matt and Sora also pulled out their notebooks and pencils, scribbling down the problem and answering them as quickly as possible. The two of them were done in a matter of five minutes, the question being, "What is the speed of light?" It was an obvious answer, especially since a poster outside had depicted the answer. They decided to chat while everyone was flipping through their physics books for the answer. Apparently, no one knew how to use an index.

"So, Matt. I mean, Mr. Student Body President, you're going to have to let me hear a song one day from your band." Sora laughed, doodling on her paper. The blonde boy rolled his eyes and placed his pencil on the top of his nose, trying to balance it. "Oh please. I only ran because Tai told me to. Izzy and him did all the campaigning. Didn't know I'd actually win! But anyway, yeah, I'll make sure you'll get both front row and back stage access to our concert here in the winter." Sora nodded, drawing a small heart on the corner of her notebook paper, soon scribbling it out. She placed her pencil down, lifting her head and eyes to look at her long time best friend. "So, you and Mimi, huh?" Matt's large smile disappeared, replaced by a smaller one as he took the pencil from his nose, tilting his head down to it's normal position to look at the red head beside him. "Yup. Happened during the summer."

Sora nodded slowly. She wanted to know more. Matt took notice of her yearning eyes and shook his head. He'd have to tell her eventually anyway, no matter how much it pained him to admit he gave up. "Well, Mimi and I started hanging out more. You know, other than hanging out with the rest of the guys. Started back when Mimi's parents thought they were moving to New York. Found her crying at the Park on my way home from band practice, so I decided to ask what was wrong..." His voice trailed off, the boy's eyes looking at the girl in front of him. "She was so devastated. So I decided to help her through it. We went to places all around Japan. I thought, 'Hey, if Mimi's leaving, might as well take her to all the sights before she leaves. One last look at Japan'. But a couple months later, her parents decided they'd stay here. And well, in July, she brought up the fact we'd been spending a lot of time together and..." Matt looked back at Sora, an uncertain expression on his face.

Sora shook her head and smiled. "Say no more, I get it. You asked her out?" Matt shook his head, letting out a chuckle. "Actually, she asked me out. She brought up a good point, and I agreed to the relationship." Sora blinked twice, surprised at this. Then again, Mimi was the straight forward one and Matt was the 'keep-to-himself' kind of guy. By the time, Ms. Mutou was going over the problem and the formula of how to calculate how long it would take the sun's light to actually be seen from earth. "Well, what else did I miss these years?" Matt leaned back on his stool, hands underneath the seat gripping to keep his bum planted firmly on the wobbly chair. "Well, let's see. Oh, Izzy's in a bunch of advanced classes for his grade. Kari loves photography now. Traded that little whistle of hers for a Canon camera. Joe's off at University, becoming a doctor." Sora interrupted him, laughing. "That's not surprising at all!"

Matt nodded, then continued his attempt to catch Sora up. "TK and Kari are best friends." Sora rolled her eyes, interrupting again. "Well they always were!" Matt laughed and shook his head, "Yeah, but TK finally admitted to himself that he's got a crush." Sora gasped, tilting her head to the side with her hands together. "Oh how cute!" Matt rolled his eyes and laughed it off, "Yeah, but I don't think he'll be telling Kari anytime soon. I mean, he's gotten pretty brave and social. He's president of the freshman class, star player of the basket ball team. He made varsity his freshman year! But out of everything, Kari makes him the most nervous." Sora laughed, sighing. "She's got a hold on him." Matt nodded, then ran a hand through his blonde fringe. "Yeah, but there's this other kid, Davis. He's a kid that plays on the varsity soccer team with Davis. He's head over heels for Kari. And he makes sure that everyone knows it. I think it kind of scares TK."

Sora frowned a bit. "Well, what about Kari? Who does she like?" Matt shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows. She doesn't even tell Tai!" Sora laughed, understanding her intentions. What if Matt and Tai set their siblings up. That would be extremely awkward.

The class continued on with a few frustrated sighs from everyone who was trying to understand the concept of speed, velocity, and acceleration. Matt and Sora took down their notes as fast as possible in order to catch up with each other, laughing and such. Matt learned that Sora had put away her soccer cleats and grabbed a tennis racquet after a year in California. He also learned that she had a lot of offers from boys that wanted her heart, but she politely declined. He had to ask her about it all, and had to beg for the answer of why she declined all of them. He never got the answer, the bell had rung.

As Sora packed up her things, Matt waited at her side. Mimi walked over to their table and smiled. "Babe, I'll see you in Photography! She leaned forward to sneak a quick kiss, which was ignored by Sora, who wanted to be as neat as possible, closing her notebook and inserting it into a binder that she put neatly in her briefcase, putting her pencil into a pencil pouch that also went into the bag. Matt looked down at Sora as Izzy and Mimi went to their next class. "Hey, do you have lunch next?" Sora nodded and stood up, walking out of the lab classroom with Matt at her side. "Yup. Where's the caf?"

"West Wing. You buying?" Sora shook her head, "Nah, but isn't that where we're going to eat?" Matt shook his head and rounded the corner with her. "You need to get your lunch from your locker?" Sora nodded, "It's on the other side of school though, you can go ahead.. I'll..." She stopped, realizing she didn't know her way around school. Matt laughed, knowing she had realized her mistake and shook his head. "Nah, it's cool. I got to get my stuff too. And my locker's around there too." Sora nodded and smiled. "Alright, thanks."

They walked down the hall, taking a short cut Matt had suggested by cutting through the third floor's enormous media center. In five minutes, they made it to Sora's locker. Matt smiled and pointed down the hall. "I'll be back. I'm over there." Sora nodded and Matt jogged down the hall in the direction he had pointed at. Entering his lock combination, 10-10-11, he opened the locker and grabbed brown bag lunch, shutting it close and walking back to Sora's locker where she waited, leaning against her locker patiently.

The blond friend took this time to actually examine her features. She had grown taller, though she was nothing compared to his 6'1" height. She was probably around 5'4", give or take an inch or two. Her legs were extremely long and slender, toned enough due to her tennis practice and games, he was sure. Her cheek bones were very defined, and she had filled out in all the right places. He tried not to dwell on it, but if he had to guess, she was probably a mid B cup. Shaking his head, he noticed her once short hair. The fiery orange-red hair was now just below her chest, cut in layers, fringe parted to the left.

Sora noticed his eyes on her that lingered a little longer than usual, and raised a brow. "You ready to go?" Matt laughed and nodded his head straight a head to the door that led outside to the stairs where they would go down. Soon, they approached a tree with a few other students sitting underneath it. It was a large Sakura blossom tree.

Elated, the girl ran to sit under the shade of the tree, hugging a certain girl very tightly. "Oh, Kari! I'm so glad to see you again! I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming, I wanted it to be a surprise." Kari laughed and shook her head. "No no, it's perfectly fine, Sora. It's certainly the best surprise I've ever had." With the shorter girl's hug, Sora let her go and sat beside TK, smiling up at him. He had grown a lot, just a few inches shorter than Matt. "Oh wow, Kiddo! Where'd you get the stilts?" TK laughed and opened his brown bag, taking out a peanut butter sandwich. "The department store, I can buy you a pair too, if you'd like!" With his free hand, he ruffled up Sora's hair, poking fun at the fact he was taller than her. Matt laughed, high-fiving his little brother. Sora smiled, taking out her little lunch box, smiling. "Wow, it's like old times, guys!" Kari and TK nodded in agreement. Matt smiled, noticing Sora's overly happy expression. "It is. Welcome home, Sora."

And so the four friends laughed, shared lunches, and reminisced under the sakura tree in the school's courtyard, just as they had done back elementary school. They sat under the tree, just there.

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AN: There you go! Hope you liked it. Please, read and review!**


	4. Photographs

**Author's note: **Hi everyone! Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. This chapter may not seem so great, I'm going to just let things flow, I have no real goal for this chapter unlike the previous three where I knew where I wanted it to end.

If you haven't noticed, all of the chapters have so far ended in "Just there". I basically think of an ending sentence for a chapter, and then I start to type up the rest of the story, but this one didn't come to me. So... We'll see how it goes. x]

I apologize for how 'slow' this is going, but like I've said before, I'm trying to make this realistic. However, later chapters won't be as slow progressing as these past few have been, I promise. It's just the first day and I want to introduce everyone.

_Fantasyguardian_: Thanks so much for the review, it means a lot that you take interest in the way I write. I always think I could do better. And YES, they do end up together, just have faith and try not to hate Mimi's guts in the end. Even though Matt and Mimi are together, Sora and Matt are best friends, and well, there will be Sorato scenes, but light, because I don't want Matt to be a cheater.

_KoumiLoccness:_ Yes, I'm going to use Koushiro's English name. If you haven't noticed, I've been using everyone's English name. I've stated several times that it will end in Sorato. It may or may not end with a Koumi, but who knows. And I would appreciate it if you would try to not be rude in your reviews, it makes me want to not make it end with Koumi just to spite you.

**Disclaimer: Heard it before? Probably don't own it.**

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**Chapter 4: Photographs. **

As the four friends continued to laugh, three other boys approached the group, each with trays in their hands. Apparently, they decided to buy their own lunches in the cafeteria. Wrong move, today's special was the Sloppy Joe's. One, Sora had obviously recognized. She waved her right hand in the air, greeting the three boys, "Hey Tai!" Sora's eyes looked down at the shorter two boys, one shorter than the other. In curiosity, the redhead's head tilted to the right just slightly. Tai laughed and waved back, balancing his tray of food with one hand. As the three neared the other four, Tai began to introduce his companions. "Hey, Sora. Oh, this is Davis. He's a freshman." Sora recognized the shorter boy. His hair was shorter, but had an odd similarity to Tai's and he was also wearing the goggles that reminded her of Tai's. "And this is Cody." The shortest boy gave a courteous bow at his introduction. "Hello, nice to meet you." Sora smiled at how polite the younger one was and nodded back at him, "Nice to meet you too, Cody, Davis. I'm Sora, obviously." All three of them joined the circle.

Tai sat down and placed his tray in his lap, rubbing his hands together. He looked around the circle with a grin on his face. "So, what does everyone have today?" Kari took out her own lunch-pail and took out a container, opening it to reveal some sushi. "I have eel!" Davis tried his best to hide a face of disgust, he absolutely hated fish, well all kinds of seafood for that matter, but since it was Kari, "Oh, can I try some?" TK took a bite of his Peanut butter sandwich and raised a brow at the boy on the other side of Kari, "Davis, I thought you didn't like sushi." Kari laughed as Davis shrunk back a bit. Sora opened her own lunch container and took a whiff of her mother's cooking. "Mmm. I have home made fried rice with chicken katsu!" Both Davis and Tai's mouths were watering upon inhaling the delicious scent. Cody, TK, and Matt only laughed. Matt took out some cold pizza and a can of Root Beer from his brown bag. "Oh, yum. Left overs." TK laughed, "Dad working overtime again?" The older brother nodded, "Yup. And I woke up too late to cook something up." TK nodded and gobbled down the rest of his sandwich.

Cody stared down at his food. He really didn't like Sloppy Joe's, especially because it wasn't a balanced meal: there were no vegetables; nevertheless, he took a bite. Kari smiled over at the shorter boy, tipping her tupperware to him, "Would you like some, Cody? There are carrots too!" Cody smiled and happily took one piece of sushi and a couple carrots, nodding his head. "Thank you, Kari." Kari only smiled back and nodded her head, "Yup! No problem, Cody."

Matt nibbled silently at the cold combo pizza, Tai and Davis sloppily ate their messy burgers, and Kari and Sora ain't daintily at their own lunches. It was then Kari noticed a two people who had her next class with her missing. "Anyone know where Ken and Yolei are?" Cody finished the last of his Sloppy Joe, reluctantly, and pointed over at the computer labs' direction with his fork. "Working on something for Computer club." Kari's lips formed an 'o' as she nodded.

Matt opened his soda can with a refreshing 'pop', to it, startling both Kari and Sora. Finishing up her last bite, Sora looked over to the group in front of her. "So, what class do you guys have?" Davis immediately piped up, a huge grin on his face. "Kari and I have poetry next! Don't you think poems are romantic, huh Kari?" With a roll of her eyes, Kari laughed, ignoring Davis' question. "And so does TK and Cody." TK couldn't help but point at laugh when Davis' face fell upon Kari's rejection. He then remembered, "Oh! So does Matt! What about you Sora?" Sora's head looked over to Matt, smiling. "Same, actually. I bet that class will be easy for you. After all, you do write your own songs. You must have a lot of creativity in that blonde head of yours." Matt shrugged, finishing the last drop of the soda. "Yeah, I guess." Tai placed his tray in front of him in the circle, on top of Davis'. "Well, while you guys are having fun in Poetry class, I'll be having so much fun in Music Theory." Kari laughed, shaking her head. "Oh boy. Whoever put you in the class obviously didn't know you're absolutely tone deaf." Tai leaned back, his elbows behind him to support his weight. "Right? That's what I said."

Matt looked over at Sora, sitting beside him and handed her his empty soda can. Sora blinked and took the can with a smile on her lips. "Awh, Matt. I can't believe you remembered." She carefully took the can's tab, bending it back and forth as she recited the alphabet in her head. As Matt watched her do this, he shrugged his shoulders with a slight grin. "How could I forget?" In his head, he too was reciting the alphabet, mentally saying each letter with each bend of the tab. Finally, the tab broke off, but Matt shook his head, it wasn't nearly long enough. Sora looked at the now broken off Tab, thinking out loud. "Hmmm. N?" Kari's eyes lit up at the letter, "Oh! Nate from back in California!" Kari remembered very well about the boy Sora had told her over the internet one night. Sora's eyes bulged out, shaking her head furiously. "Oh god, not him."

Davis raised a brow, confused. "What's all that about?" TK gathered all his trash, and Matt's into his brown bag, making it easier for him to throw away, then looked up to Davis. "Back when we were younger, all the girls had this weird... game thing. You basically bend the tab of the soda pop can and recite the alphabet with every bend. The letter it breaks off at is the the starting letter of the person you'll marry in the future's name." Davis immediately leaned toward Kari, "So Kari, you ever get D before, huh?" Kari shook her head, putting a finger to her chin as she thought. "Nope, don't think I have anyway." Davis leaned a bit too far and fell on his face. The rest of them laughed.

The bell rang, and they all gathered their things. They had about ten minutes to get to class. Tai had to go, his class was all the way on the other side of the campus. TK and Davis decided to go ahead, Cody and Kari stopped by their lockers, and so did Matt and Sora. Dropping off her lunch-pail in her locker, she sauntered over to Matt's locker, who grabbed a black tattered notebook from inside and stuffed it into his brief case. Sora raised a brow. "Hmm. Couldn't afford a new one?" The two began to walk each other to their next class as Matt laughed, shaking his head. "Nah. It's my song journal, you know?" Sora blinked and nodded, turning the corner with him and entering the second door to the right. The way the class room was set up reminded her a little bit of first grade. The desks were placed in a huge circle within the class room, and at the head of the room and one point at the circle was a wooden chair that sat a little elderly lady with gray hair put up in a bun held up by a few bobby pins and a flower. She turned her head to the children that just filed into the room and held her hand out towards the circle of desks, "Please, take any seat you would like." Many girls rushed to find seats, and the boys filled in the seats as well. A few girls hollered over at the blonde rockstar, "Matt, Matt! Sit next to me, please oh please!" While boys either rolled their eyes or lifted the hands to point at a chair beside them, "Nah, bro! Sit over here." Those kind of boys only wanted his friendship if it brought them girls. The only seat far enough from all those kinds of people was the center, and that meant that he'd have to pay attention in the class, especially since the old lady would be looking at him directly. With a shrug of his shoulders, the boy decided to take on the center seat. It wouldn't be too bad, especially since this was probably one of two classes he'd actually enjoy.

This left Sora at the head of the class room, wondering where to sit. She didn't want to assume that she'd be able to sit next to Matt, for all she knew, he was already annoyed with her by now. But the call of her name from her best friend's voice said otherwise, "Sora. Where are you going?" Her head whipped around to see Matt sitting down, patting the desk beside him twice. She headed over to the seat and sat down, placing her briefcase on the desk. TK, Kari, Davis, and Cody sat on the other side of Matt in that order. Davis wanted to sit next to Kari, complaining about how she always sat next to TK. TK stayed quiet, letting Davis cause the scene by himself while Cody resolved the problem, suggesting Kari should sit in the middle. Sora leaned over to Matt, whispering over to him, "Is he always like that?"

Before Matt could answer, two juniors, sophomores, by the look of their uniforms, were able to make it to class, filling in the last two seats between Sora and some other girl with black long hair. "Sorry we're late! Computer Club ran a bit long." Yolei took the seat next to Ken who took the seat next to Sora. The violet haired girl blinked, noticing a new face. "Oh, you must be Sora! I'm Yolei!" The girl gave an enthusiastic wave and Ken nodded, "And I'm Ken. I think we gave you directions earlier to the Mr. Sever's first period?" Sora smiled and nodded, remembering. "Oh yeah! Haha, well, nice to have formally met you two!" Yolei laughed and nodded twice, a huge smile on her face. "Yup! Likewise!"

The old lady went towards the board, writing her name rather low on the white board with a dry erase marker, considering her height. "Hello, everyone. I am Mrs. Hanuki." Turning back around, she took her seat back at the circle, smiling as her old worn eyes from behind thick glasses scanned each and everyone's face. "I was informed of a new student that would be joining us. Sora, which one of you lads is this young lady?" Sora raised her hand with a small smile on her face. "That would be me, Mrs. Hanuki." Mrs. Hanuki smiled back and nodded. "Well don't be shy now, honey. Tell us about yourself."

Sora stood up, biting on her lower lip. She hated doing this, she never knew what to say. "Well uh..." A few snide loud whispers from near by girls caught her friends' attention, "God, she must be dull. And her Japanese pronunciation sounds so..." Before the girl could finish, Matt rolled his eyes and TK cleared his throat. "This is Sora. She's originally from Japan," he paused and let Kari handle the last bit, "But moved to North America when she was twelve. She's back now and is a senior, if you people were too dumb to notice." Many of the girls shut up, it was such a privilege in the school to go to North America. "She plays tennis, her favorite color is blue. She only sings when no one's around to listen." Sora laughed, surprised Kari remembered all their conversations over AOL instant messenger. A couple of chuckles were heard from a group of boys on her left. One boy in particular raised his hand, "Hey, are you a natural ginger?" About to speak, Sora was caught off by Matt's voice, "Yeah, she is." She looked back to see a glare fixed on his expression, she wondered why, but had no time to verbally question it. "I grew up with her, and I don't think five year olds dye their hair." He added that last bit to his sentence before anyone could even start to think of the rumor to spread.

Another boy from the opposite side of the room raised a brow at Matt. "I thought you and Mimi went on dates to touch up your roots." Sora raised a brow, crossing her arms over her chest, "Oh, really? Do you want me to call my salon, I think it's time for your touch up." The boy shrunk back in his seat, trying to cover the brown roots peeping through dyed blonde hair. Most of the class erupted in laughter, including old little Mrs. Hanuki. "Now, class. This is poetry, and there will be plenty of time to insult others, anonymously of course." She stood up, slowly making her way to the desk behind her and taking a stack of papers, handing half to one side of the circle, the other half to the other side. "Your first assignment is to write two poems about or directed to two different people. Now remember, students, poems don't have to rhyme, and sometimes, you could say, they don't even have to make sense to other people. This is your creation, there are no wrong ways to free verse." Each student took a paper with their prompt and passed the rest of the stack onward.

When Sora received the last one from her side, her ruby eyes skimmed over the paper. She read it out loud, "Think of the first two people, or group of people that come to your mind. How do you feel about them? If they died tomorrow, what would you want to say to them?" Davis raised a brow and scoffed. "This is a little depressing, don't you think?" Kari shook her head and placed the piece of paper into her green and blue binder. "No, not at all. I think it's wonderful actually. It's anonymous, unless you don't want it to be, so you can kind of just vent, you know?" TK nodded in agreement. "Exactly why I took this class. Izzy said it was one of his favorite classes and recommended it to me." Cody also chimed in with agreement, "Yeah, he told me that, too! I thought it would be an awesome alternative to releasing stress by kendo, it's a lot less violent."

Davis shook his head and laughed, "Well, you know Kari, I guess you're right! Wow, I never though of it that way. Maybe we can write our poems about our crushes!" Yolei rolled her eyes, adding in her own two cents. "Yeah, and maybe I can write my poem about the horrible attempts at impressing a girl can make in one day." Ken couldn't help but laugh beside her. "Knowing Davis, he'll probably write about soccor." Davis frowned, a bit offended, "Hey man. I think about more things than soccer!" Sora laughed, then looked to her right to Matt. "What do you think you'll write about?" Matt bit on his lip, then sighed, looking over the paper before placing it into his briefcase. "A friend, maybe TK. Maybe my mom."

"And Mimi?" Sora gave a small smile. Though there was an apparent smile on her lips, her eyes weren't smiling with them, they didn't match: they lacked luster in them. She couldn't explain why it was so. She was happy that Mimi's childhood crush had become her boyfriend, but something pulled at the strings of her heart again, like it had done so before.

Matt hesitantly nodding. "Well, of course." Actually, the thought of her didn't cross his mind. He had to admit, in the beginning of their relationship, he was all for it. Maybe it was because it meant that one of his close friends wouldn't be leaving for the states. But it seemed that now, things weren't exactly the same. Don't get him wrong or anything, he absolutely loved hanging out with the girl, but things were just different. Or maybe, they never even changed.

The rest of the class was used to get to know each other better. Yolei and Ken were obviously sophomores. The top two in their class actually. Ken was the smarter one, but Yolei wasn't far behind. They took many classes that were advanced for their grade level and Sora was correct in guessing that the two of them were a couple. They just weren't as affectionate as the others. Sora discovered that Davis was Tai's mini-me. He had that leader-like personality and was a part of the Varsity soccer team, shocked? Sora was, he was the only freshman on the team. Ken was the only sophomore. TK was following in his big brother's footsteps. Well, not the whole leader of the band type of thing, but more like many girls seemed to adore him. Kari indeed traded her whistle in for a camera. She was a huge photography junkie now. She promised one day, she'd bring Sora over to show her all the pictures the had on her bedroom wall. Kari also brought pictures from home for Photography class, but that was for later. Sora learned that Cody was half chinese. His dad was in the police force, but passed away while on duty. He lived with his mom and grandfather who taught kendo and was the one who was teaching Cody himself.

The bell rang, each of them grabbing their belongings and exiting out of the back door, but not before saying a goodbye to the lovely little Mrs. Hanuki. Sora waited outside for Kari, and when the younger girl stepped out of the classroom, Sora smiled, approaching her, "Hey, uh.. Kari, Tai said tha-" Kari interrupted her long time friend and took her by the arm. "No worries, Sor. Tai told me we had Photography together. So does TK, Ken, Cody, and Matt and Mimi." They went across the hall to enter a large room with three seats and Mac computers at each table. At the desk in the front was a young man with black shaggy hair. On the bridge of his nose were wide square black framed glasses, around his neck a DSLR camera. He wore a green sweater vest, a white dress shirt underneath and some khaki pants. Sora raised her left brow. "Wow... What a hipster." Kari looked back, a quizzical expression on her face. "A what?" Sora laughed and shook her head, "Nevermind." Kari shrugged her shoulders and went took a seat next to TK in the middle of the class room. At the table to the right of them sat Cody and Ken. Sora took a seat at the table behind Kari and TK, waiting for whoever to join her table. She sat at the left end and placed her briefcase behind her chair.

As she waited, her thoughts began to wander: mainly focused on the poetry assignment. Who would she write about? Maybe her mother, or what about her dad? Mrs. Hanuki said that they could direct it to a group of people, she might elaborate on that one. "Sora!" Mimi came up to the table and hugged the girl tightly. Her strawberry blonde hair was now tied up in a ponytail. Sora gave a laugh and hugged Mimi back, the scent of flour reaching her nostrils. "Cooking class?" Mimi nodded and placed her hands on her hips. "Yup! Bet you didn't know I had it in me, eh?" Sora shook her head, trying not to laugh. "In all honesty, I didn't." The girl standing pouted, then took her seat at the other end of the table, "Well jeez. I'm hurt." Matt came from the door and looked around, trying to find a seat. He soon saw his girlfriend's waving arms in the air, "Baby! Over here. Come sit with me and Sora."

Matt sighed and put on a half smile, making his way to the back of the class room to pull out the chair between his friend and girlfriend. He sat down, placing his briefcase on the table on top of the computer's keyboard. The first two days for him were always draining, especially since these classes seemed to go on forever. The bell rang and the man at the front desk raised his hand, his voice loud to try and catch everyone's attention. "Hey, listen up. Welcome to Photography class. I'm Mr. Hunt. We have a new student, Sora Takenouchi." At this, Sora waved her hand. Mr. Hunt laughed and then continued on, "So, I'm going to assume that Sora is way too tired to introduce herself again for at least her third class today, so I'm going to go right on with it." He stepped around his desk to lean on it from the front. "I'm going to trust at least some of you brought pictures from families albums of some sort, yes?" A couple people groaned, others got their shoe boxes or photo albums. "Alright great. I'll be going around to see what kind of photos you guys take. Today's more of a reminiscing class." Kari grinned and took out her shoe box full of photos. "Hey guys, look what I brought!"

Her group of friends gathered around the table she sat at, the third person at the table abandoning them to join another for the time being. She dumped the photos on the table, letting everyone shift through them. Cody picked out a particular one. It was of a small girl in yellow pajamas and a slightly older looking boy balancing a soccer ball on his head. In the girl's lap was a brown and white cat. "You and Tai?" Ken looked over Cody's shoulder at the picture. "Devoted little boy to soccer, wasn't he?" Kari laughed and shook her head, "You have no idea. Look, they all were." The brunette girl took a picture from a pile and placed it on top for everyone to look. She pointed at each little figure in the picture. "Tai. Matt. And Sora." Sora was in at the right end of the photo, passing the black and white ball to Matt and Tai was trying to steal the pass. Cody raised a brow. "Where are Mimi, Cody, and Joe?" Ken nodded, then added in, "And you and TK?" Mimi laughed and rolled her eyes. "Really, you think I'd play and get my clothes dirty? Hmmm" She paused and took a pile of photos, trying to find a picture of herself. Once she did, she placed it on the table. "That's me with Joe and Izzy." Ken laughed and pointed at the mini-Izzy. "Wow! He really is a die hard computer nerd!" Kari noddded, laughing. "And there's Mimi wearing pink everything. And Joe with the first aid kit." TK laughed and pointed at a photo that was put to the side. It was of him and Kari chasing a bird. "Do you remember that, Kari?" Kari's laughter grew louder as she grabbed her sides, tears threatening to fall. "Oh jeez, TK! We got so mad that thing made us drop our ice cream!" TK shook his head, "Not even! You dropped your ice cream then the thing started to peck at your head and you were running around like a crazy person and knocked my ice cream over! I got mad and chased you while you chased the bird!"

They all joined in on their laughter and Sora couldn't help but notice another photo. She pointed at a particular photo taken a week before she had left. It was at Matt's birthday. The young matt's face was covered with cake and so were Sora's hands and hat. "Oh, wow. I remember that party!" Mimi pouted and frowned, her hands going up to her hair. "I do too! You guys got it all over the place, it even got in my hair!" Kari laughed, so did TK. "And then put the cake on Tai's seat and he sat on it!" Matt groaned, "Yeah, and I wanted some of that cake too! It was ice cream..."

* * *

The class ended and the only ones left in the room were Kari, Matt, TK, Sora, and Mimi. Ken had to go work on computer club again with Yolei and Izzy and Cody and kendo practice. TK helped gather the pictures into Kari's shoe box. "Kari, I'll walk you home." Kari smiled and shook her head. "I've got cheer leading try-outs, today, TK." TK laughed and scratched at the back of his neck. "Oh, I forgot." Kari took the box TK handed to her and smiled, "But you could always come watch." TK nodded and they walked out of the class room. "Oh, alright. Why not?"

Mimi couldn't help but giggle, then leaned up to kiss the blonde boy on his cheek. "I've got to go, babe. Mom made us an appointment to get our nails done!" Matt nodded and slowly let go of Mimi's hand as she exited the class room too. He then looked over at Sora, the only once else in the room other than himself. "Well, I'll walk you home." Sora raised a brow, placing her chair back at it's original table. "Don't you have important Mr. Student Body President things to do? Or.. band practice?" Ishida shook his head, reaching his hand out to her. "Nah. It's only the first day. Meetings are every Monday starting the second month of school. And band's at six. I'll walk you home." Sora hesitantly took his hand after just looking at it as she contemplated her decision "Mm, alright." They walked out of the room together, stopping by their lockers to retrieve their belongings needed to be taken home.

Exiting the school building together, they walked down the street, making plans with each other. "Hey, remember, Matt. You promised you'd let me hear one of your songs." Matt laughed and rolled his eyes. "I know I know. But hey, we should just hang out. Catch up on lost times. I missed you." Sora smiled. She liked the idea of spending time with Matt very much. "Awh, Matt. I've missed you, too." Matt looked over across the field, staring out at the place they had said their final goodbyes. Sora leaned her weight against him, sighing. "Seems like yesterday, yeah?" Matt nodded, wrapping his arm around his best friend's arms. "I wish it was."

They stood there like that, watching the little dots on the field kick a smaller black speck across the green grass. They reminisced, looking at what seemed to be a glimpse of the past.

Just there.

* * *

**Author's Note: **And there you have it! Now, for the poetry assignment. Only Sora, Matt, TK, and Kari will be reciting their poems. This will not happen in the next chapter, however I've already written these poems today during the last bit of time I had during my Physics final. Haha. I have three poem's for Matt. I for sure want a poem about Sora in there. But the other poem is up to you. You guys can choose between Mimi or TK. I really like the one I wrote for TK, but Mimi's kind of matches and is a great contrasts to Sora's poem. So, please tell me which you'd like in you're review! Thank you! Oh, and sorry for the errors, I just really want to get this one out, I've been kind of neglecting even writing this.

**Like always, please review! Criticism is appreciated! **


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